OneVoice Movement: Message from Paul

OneVoice Movement: Message from Paul"Whilst I was in the Middle East, I visited a music school in
Bethlehem (Palestine) and did a concert in Tel Aviv (Israel). While
I was there, I met with a group of young people who go under the
name of OneVoice. They told me that the vast majority of people
living in the region want nothing more than a peaceful life and a
chance to look after their families and themselves like other people
in the world. I was very impressed with their thinking and their
enthusiasm for a peaceful resolution to the problems in the area and
would like to introduce the organisation to you. Here are some
details about them...

OneVoice is a grassroots movement of Israeli and Palestinian
citizens and international supporters who are fed up with the ongoing
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and who are ready and eager to support a
serious peace process, leading to a comprehensive agreement that will
fulfil the hopes and beliefs of both the Palestinian and Israeli
people to end occupation and all forms of violence and establish a two
state solution. What makes OneVoice unique is that it appeals to the
national self interest of both peoples. They don't ask each side to
like or love each other; rather they ask them to recognise the
entangled nature of their fates, and the need to address the concerns
on each side so that they can fulfil their respective moderate
national ambitions. Just a few of their main activities include: OneVoice's
Youth Leadership Programme:

To date, OneVoice has engaged over 600,000 Israeli and Palestinian
citizens who have signed their mandate for change. Over 2,500 of these
signatories have gone on to become Youth Leaders, who volunteer their
time to drive the movement forward- becoming genuine agents for change
and authentic leaders within communities all over Israel and
Palestine. As part of the programme, some of Israel and Palestine's
most talented young people (aged 18-25) are given key training in
fields such as public speaking, negotiation and persuasion, conflict
resolution, community organising and non-violent protest. We have
chapters all over Israel and Palestine, where committees of Youth
Leaders plan and execute programmes to increase awareness of the
issues amongst their compatriots, pressuring their leaders to get back
to the negotiating table and end the conflict once and for all. Our
network of Youth Leaders- as well as being loud and constant advocates
for pragmatism, moderation and an end to the conflict- provide us with
a dedicated resource of passionate volunteers, allowing OneVoice to
mount widespread, highly visible grassroots projects such as: The
Breaking Taboos Programme:

Progress at the negotiating table is only one step in the process
of reaching an agreement that can be implemented. An end to the
conflict will only come when the leaders come to an agreement that
their peoples are ready to understand, accept, and support; it is
imperative that the public understand the process. That's why OneVoice
contracted Dr. Colin Irwin, who devised a groundbreaking polling
method, which he has used in conflicts such as Kashmir, Kosovo, Sri
Lanka- and, most successfully- Northern Ireland, where he worked
closely with people such as Senator George Mitchell in the run-up to
the Good Friday Agreement. The poll aims to highlight hidden
consensus, and build genuine new directions toward inter-community
underatnading and compromise. You can read the full poll here.

Using the results of the poll as a spring-board, OneVoice's staff
and Youth Leaders are now going to cities, towns and villages across
Israel and Palestine, discussing the most sensitive taboo issues with
a broad cross-section of both societies, and relaying the results to
the other side. By building genuine momentum and popular
participation, OneVoice is giving ownership of the issues surrounding
the conflict- and the responsibility to end it- back to the
grassroots, asking them what will you do to end the conflict?, and
then giving them a platform to do it. Find out more about OneVoice,
and their unique approach to ending the conflict at: